This film is independent. It's for you, not a corporation. And it needs your support.

Release trailer

We're making short documentary films about indie game makers all over the world, starting in Chicago, USA. And the best part: You can help us decide where we go after that. Future seasons of Stage of Development will focus on different locations around the world. And where we go is up to you.

Watch Our First Teaser-Trailer

With hundreds of video game websites and magazines out there, you'd think stories like this would be all over the place. You'd be wrong.

Watch our second teaser-trailer

The kind of detailed, documentary journalism we do costs money and takes time, and those are both things traditional games media can't afford to devote to stories about people. So we're doing it ourselves.

Watch our third teaser-trailer!

This Kickstarter is for *at least* four short films (10-20 minutes, maybe longer) and a full feature-length documentary (50 minutes or more) about different people or indie teams making different games or projects.

Watch our fourth teaser-trailer!

In fact, we've already shot a pilot. And you can watch it right now!

The following video is from San Francisco, and our time with Alphabear and Steambirds developer SpryFox.

Pilot Video!

*(We incorrectly credited the "We Are Chicago" interview video. That should be credited to PC Magazine. Sorry!)

"This is an ambitious project, but if you ask us, it’s an important one that can only help foster the Independent Game Development community and enrich the appreciation so many have of Indie games." - IndieHangover

We start in Chicago, with the vibrant Chicago Indie scene at their world-famous summer festival, Bit Bash. We will learn about how this festival came to be, and who keeps it alive in the face of many challenges. There we will also meet Chicago indies of all shapes and sizes, following some of them to the houses, offices and studios they call home. Bit Bash is the annual showcase for Chicago's indies, and will play a huge part in our entire series

Our tour of Chicago will take us to many different places where we will meet many different types of people. All of whom make games. All of whom call "The Indie City" home.

Bit Bash

"It's an object lesson in how the experience and medium of gaming is constantly being reinterpreted and redefined, far away from the multimillion-dollar studio blockbusters that many reflexively think of as video games." - Chicago Reader

Young Horses (Octodad: Dadliest Catch)

"The Young Horses were unofficially formed in March 2011 at the Game Developers Conference where they were nominated as a Student Showcase Winner for Octodad. Despite everyone being convinced that the game was about a normal human dad, the game was a cult hit, gained critical acclaim, and was an Independent Games Festival Student Finalist in 2011." - Reddit

"Dadliest Catch is like a great Saturday morning cartoon. It’s obvious to the player what is going on, but the colorful animated characters in Octodad have no idea that the person slopping around everywhere is actually an octopus." - GamesBeat

William Chyr (Manifold Garden)

"William Chyr isn’t your typical game developer, and his first game, Manifold Garden, doesn’t look quite like anything else we’ve ever played. After studying physics and economics as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, Chyr worked for several years as a sculptor and installation artist before taking an unexpected turn into game development." - DigitalTrends

"[Manifold Garden is] just this absolutely beautiful strange thing that gives me a little pleasure spike every time I see it." - Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Culture Shock Games (We Are Chicago)

"I remain deeply curious about We Are Chicago, a game about Chicago being made in Chicago that hopes to convey what it’s like to live here." - Kotaku

"Culture Shock is taking a decidedly different approach to game development, one that focuses on educating gamers while simultaneously providing them with enough entertainment to keep them hooked. The studio knows the relatively serious subject matter won’t be for everyone." - iDigitalTimes

The Men Who Wear Many Hats (Organ Trail: Director's Cut, Max Gentlemen), Trinket Studios and more.

"Organ Trail: Director's Cut is a weird, wonderful and almost surprisingly expansive experience that will both infuriate and enchant." - TouchArcade

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"The game was inspired by a spam email for penis pills, after all. The developers The Men Who Wear Many Hats never opened that email espousing the benefits of that tiny little pill. Instead they created the world of Max Gentlemen - a place of extreme Victorian gents, who love to stack hats." - Independent

Once complete, the films will be made available to backers digitally. We also have a tentative distribution deal with a major digital media publisher. This is an outfit that loves what we're doing and wants to help share it. But we have to pay for the production ourselves, so we need your help!

Our budget for this series is simple, with layers.

It's going to cost us at least $32,200 to shoot and edit the four (and probably more) episodes. And that's not counting the money we've already spent. We wanted to get to Chicago in time for Bit Bash, even though this campaign couldn't be launched any sooner (long story). So I spent some of my own money and a little bit from outside investors on the principal shoot in Chicago. To finish the series and edit it, we need $32,000 more.

How did we get that number? It costs us approx. $1,000 per day in crew costs (I'm not getting paid) to shoot and edit a documentary. We're shooting this in five days and editing it in 20 (approx. 3 edit days per film—not a lot). So $22,500 is our starting number.

Music will cost us $5,000. So now we're at $27,500.

Travel will cost at least $4,700. So now we're at $32,200.

Since things sometimes go wrong, we add in a contingency, bringing us to $38,640.

And then we add in the fees Kickstarter charges, plus the costs to produce our rewards (estimated at $4,251) which brings us to $42,891.

So that's what we're asking for.

At $42,891 we will produce the full series with a crew of three; me and a videographer named Christian, and an audio guy named Austin. My videographer and audio will get paid, but I will not. And you will receive at least six episode of Stage of Development.

Simple. Back us, we make the videos, you get to watch them. Done.

If you like this idea so much you think Ialsodeserve to get paid for it (thank you), then if you unlock our first stretch goal that's what will happen.

If you like this idea so much you want more, unlocking our second stretch goal ensures we will produce at least two additional episodes.

Simple, right? But layered. If we raise at least $42,891, we're making this series. Any more than that just helps us do it better.

Some people look at video games and see a number: a score, or an amount of hours. Other people see pixels, triangles, colors. Still others see violence, fear.

When I look at video games I see people. I see the people who made them. I see the people who marketed and packaged them. I see the person who had an idea one day about how to entertain or share an idea through a video game. And that makes me want to learn everything I can about those people, and share their stories with the world.

You can help me do that. By backing this project, you'll be supporting my documentary crew as we travel around the world to meet real game developers and learn about who they are, what drives them to make games, how they got started, and how they do what they do.

Risks and challenges

As always, the biggest risks here are that planned participants will change their minds or get busy; or that something will break, we'll lose footage somehow, or otherwise need to spend money on something we hadn't expected to spend money on.

The first concern is mitigated by our traditional style of "overshooting". We always get more story than we need. Which often means we have to cut great stuff to meet targeted time limits. But that's actually great for this series, because it means we can tell the stories we find in as many episodes as we need. We will get the number of episodes we promised you, and probably more.

The second concern is mitigated by the "contingency" portion of our budget. I have managed productions of all kinds for over 20 years. Something would have to catastrophically fail in a bizarre and completely unforeseeable way for us to exceed both the primary budget and the contingency. And if something that weird and dire happens, we'll probably be too busy fighting off zombies or aliens to worry about it.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $25 or more
About $25

A poster you can hang on your wall!

You will receive the official STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT: INDIE CITY art designed by Jamie Sanchez, in poster form. Suitable for framing, this poster will embody the spirit of Chicago's indie devs, designed by one of Chicago's own.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $35 or more
About $35

A T-shirt you can wear!

You will receive a limited-edition Stage of Development backer t-shirt designed by an awesome artist whom we have yet to convince to do this (but we shall)! You can wear it, frame it, or stroke it lovingly. It will be soft. And pretty.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $40 or more
About $40

A film you can hold! (Blu-ray)

BY POPULAR DEMAND you will receive the final, feature-length documentary film version of STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT: INDIE CITY on a physical Blu-ray disc with full-color art and case. The disc and cover will feature art designed by Jamie Sanchez, and will make a stunning addition to your physical film library.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

Books you can read!

Russ likes to write. So he's going to write a companion book for this series of films. It will include stories that don't fit in the films, behind-the-scenes moments about how the film is made, and more. Plus photos. And he'll sign it. And you'll get all the digital rewards, plus digital versions of his previous books "How Video Games Are Made" and "Sex, Drugs & Cartoon Violence".

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

eBooks you can read! (No shipping!)

Russ likes to write. So he's going to write a companion book for this series of films. It will include stories that don't fit in the films, behind-the-scenes moments about how the film is made, and more. Plus photos. And you'll get all the digital rewards, plus digital versions of his previous books "How Video Games Are Made" and "Sex, Drugs & Cartoon Violence".

*(Please note: The eBooks will not be included in "all digital reward" tiers.)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

A scarf you can flip!

By popular demand, the scarf tier lives on.

You will receive a quality scarf hand-selected for you by Russ Pitts, an acknowledged master scarfsman. With this scarf, you may show your approval, disdain or indifference by flipping a loose end over your shoulder and/or walking away in a huff.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $90 or more
About $90

A gift for your shelves! (Book + Film!)

BY POPULAR DEMAND we now offer a book + Blu-ray combo!

You will receive the final, feature-length documentary film version of STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT: INDIE CITY on a physical Blu-ray disc with full-color art and case. The disc and cover will feature art designed by Jamie Sanchez, and will make a stunning addition to your physical film library. And Russ will sign it.

YOU WILL ALSO RECEIVE a companion book for this series of films. It will include stories that don't fit in the films, behind-the-scenes moments about how the film is made, and more. Plus photos. And Russ will sign it. And you'll get all the digital rewards, plus digital versions of his previous books "How Video Games Are Made" and "Sex, Drugs & Cartoon Violence".

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $115 or more
About $115

The vowel tier!

You will receive a limited-edition Stage of Development backer t-shirt, PLUS the companion book for this series of films, AND a quality scarf hand-selected for you by Russ Pitts, an acknowledged master scarfsman.

Meaning you can dress like Russ Pitts while carrying around a signed copy of his new book based on these films. It'll be almost like you're him.

Best part: This tier literally contains all of the vowels; making it the perfect tier for your backing dollars.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

Welcome to the production team!

You will be invited to members-only digital meetings about the ongoing production. Plus you'll get to help us decide where to go next with this series. AND you'll get one of our Flying Saucer Media "CREW" shirts. Also ALL of the previous rewards, because that's how we roll.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,000 or more
About $2,000

Executive Producer credit on the film!

The Executive Producer is the center of the film world. Just like you'll be the center of this film. You will receive the best-of-the best film credits: an Executive Producer credit in all versions and episodes of this film series, as well as anywhere else full credits appear (IMDb, etc.), plus all previous rewards. Plus you'll get to preview drafts of each film as they wind their way through post-production, and a standing VIP invitation to attend any and all events (premieres, showings, award galas) related to this film series. Reap the benefits of being an Executive Producer. You earned it.